Midwest Mary

There is a patron saint of everything, and when it comes to animals, we call on Saint Francis of Assisi.

In 2019 I went on a pilgrimage with my daughter to Israel and Italy. One of the many sites we visited was the tomb of Saint Francis, located in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in the Umbria region in Central Italy. This is the town where St. Francis was born and died.

St. Francis’ tomb is elevated in the center of a room and emits a gentle energy that was emotional for me. I felt a sense of peace and love as I walked around the tomb praying with this saint.

Francesco (St. Francis) lived an entitled and wild lifestyle in his younger years. It wasn’t until he repeatedly heard God’s call in his mid-twenties that he completely reversed his ways.

St. Francis went from wearing fine armory as a knight to rags. He abandoned all his possessions and begged for whatever he needed including stones to build a church.

He loved everyone and everything equally from the sparrows to the pope. He never became a priest but preached and drew human and animal followers. He is said to also have preached to the birds while they stood still to listen.

When a wolf terrorized a town, St. Francis spoke to the animal to prevent the town from killing it. The wolf listened to the saint and followed his guidance resulting in being welcomed and fed by the people who once wanted him dead.

Francis lived joyfully and simply, but his extreme poverty and food deprivation compromised his health. He died at the age of 45 blind and sick.

St. Francis is considered the founder of the Order of Franciscans and the patron saint of animals, the environment, archeologists, ecologists, and merchants.

The song, “The Peace Prayer,” is attributed to St. Francis however, the actual writer is unknown. Click on the title below for a YouTube video or read the profound lyrics that follow.

The Peace Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

*Photos and post ©2024, Mary K. Doyle